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an event that was expected or thought probable, and which, on that account, obtained easy credit; but wholly unthought of and unlooked for, which the disciples were slow to believe, and which they were only induced to receive in consequence of the irresistible force of evidence. Nor was it a story which was received without examination, and believed because it had been often told. But it excited the most eager curiosity and the strictest examination immediately. No sooner do the disciples hear that the body is removed, than they run with haste to satisfy themselves of the fact. Had any fraud been attempted, therefore, it could not fail to have been detected. A report which gained credit in such circumstances must be well founded.

3. Let us rejoice that the language which Christ addresses to his disciples is addressed to us, and that the comfort given to them is offered to us, if we are his genuine followers. We are the brethren of Christ, as well as they; and he is gone to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God. The same honour of rising again from the dead, and the same marks of the divine favour are intended for us as for him.

How delightful is the prospect which thus opens upon us-a being that will never end, the presence of God, the company of Christ, the society of virtuous and departed friends, and of all good men from every quarter of the globe and every period of time! Enjoyments great at present, and every moment increasing. Blessed be God for such a hope: let us think of it when we lie down and when we rise up, and never suffer it to depart from our minds.

John xx. 19. to the end.

In the former part of this chapter we had an account of the resurrection of Jesus, and of his appearing to Mary Magdalene. We have now a further

account of the manner in which he appeared to the

apostles.

19. Then the same day, at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

The meaning of these words is, as if a person should now say, All happiness be yours! Jesus seems to have appeared among his disciples before they were aware that he was in the room. As this happened notwithstanding that the doors had been shut, they must either have been opened for him in a miraculous manner, as some have supposed, or, he must have opened them himself without being perceived *.

But notwithstanding they heard him speak, and saw an evident resemblance, so little did they expect a resurrection from the dead, that they doubted whether it were he, supposing him to be some other man, strongly resembling him, or his ghost, an aërial substance, bearing his form, but without flesh and blood. To remove their doubts, he shows them marks of the violence which he had suffered in crucifixion.

20. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side.

The marks of the wounds which he had received, but which were now healed, were sufficient to prove that he had been crucified, and consequently to identify his person, while his having flesh and bones would show that he was not what was called a ghost or spirit.

Harmer's Observations, Vol. i. p. 207, &c.

Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

They were now convinced that it was really he, and rejoiced to behold him again.

21. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you.

This he said after he had supped, and when he was about to leave them. It was a form of salutation when men separated, as well as when they met.

As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

I give you the same commission to preach, and the same power to work miracles in confirmation of doctrine, which the Father gave me.

your

22. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.

The word which stands for spirit in the language which Christ spoke upon this occasion, as well as in the English language, originally signified breath or wind, although it afterwards came to signify the divine power. In allusion to this meaning, Christ breathes or blows upon his disciples, at a time when he promised to them the Holy Spirit, as a symbol of their receiving it. Such symbolical actions frequently accompanied the predictions of the ancient prophets.

The next verse relates to the authority with which they were to be invested of preaching the gospel to all nations, and of admitting into the Christian church and rejecting from it whom they pleased.

23.: Whomsoever's sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever's sins ye retain, they are retained.

In the language of the Jews, to be admitted into their church, and to partake of the privileges of divine revelation, was to be made holy. On the contrary, those who were without the pale of their church, as was the case with the heathen, were called unholy and sinners, by which term, however, was not meant any moral depravity, but merely being out of a state of privilege. While they remained in this state, their sins were unpardoned; but when taken out of it, their sins are said to be forgiven, they are sanctified and reconciled to God. This language is met with every where in Paul's epistles, and is authorized by Jesus himself, who told his disciples that he should be delivered into the hands of sinners, meaning thereby the Gentiles. It is to them, also, that he refers in this verse, where, by authorizing his disciples to remit the sins of whomsoever they pleased, he means to give them authority to receive Gentiles as well as Jews into the Christian church. But power to retain sins was authority to exclude those who did not conform to the terms which they prescribed. Hence it appears how unfounded those claims are which have been advanced, both by Protestants and Papists, on the authority of this text.

24. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

Didymus is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Thomas, which signifies twins; by the Greeks, it seems, he was called by the latter name; by the Hebrews, by the former.

25. The other disciples, therefore, said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the

nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Thomas had the testimony of ten men, his intimate companions, of whom he had no reason to suppose that they could be mistaken or intend to deceive, to the resurrection of Jesus; who told him that they had seen the Lord; but he declares that he will not believe it, unless he is furnished with proof from his own senses of the fact. His incredulity was certainly unreasonable, and proceeded from prejudices of which we are not informed. These prejudices, however, were not so obstinate as to be incapable of yielding to evidence, as we find by the sequel.

26.

And after eight days, rather, eight days after, or as we say, "on that day se'nnight," again his disciples were within, within the house, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

He stands in the midst of the company, as persons do who address a multitude and wish to be seen, and he begins with the same salutation as before: he came in, it is observed, as before, notwithstanding the doors were shut, and therefore by the same means.

27. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing; or, " be not incredulous, but convinced."

He offers Thomas the very proof which he had required, and, by repeating his words, shows that he Vol. 2.]

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